Women’s Union urged to create more jobs for female labourers

The Government and the Vietnam Women’s Union should cooperate closely to increase the number of trained female labourers and create more jobs for women, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Photo: VOV

VWU Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa reported that the Union has promoted emulation and partriotism campaigns to raise public awareness of the need to build happy, equal and prosperous families.

In response to the campaign to build new rural areas, the VWU has built an action plan for women to take part in these campaigns, she said, adding that the women’s union at all levels has saved up to VND142 billion and more than 1,000 tonnes of rice to help poor and disadvantaged families.

Mr Dung highlighted the VWU’s achievements over the years, saying they have significantly contributed to the nation’s development.

He said the two agencies should join efforts to redress the gender imbalance, domestic violence, woman and child trafficking, minors’ abortions, and the shortage of kindergartens in rural areas and industrial zones.

The Government leaders asked the VWU to actively participate in completing the legal systems related to gender equality, domestic violence prevention and woman and child protection.

Naval force urged to make greater contributions to national development

The Vietnamese Navy needs to bring its tradition of heroism into full play, developing into a regular and modern force, thus contributing to national construction and development.  

Dinh The Huynh, Politburo member and Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)’s Popularization and Education Commission said this during his delegation’s visit to the Vietnamese Navy base in Hai Phong City on February 22.

Political Commissar and Vice Admiral Tran Thanh Huyen briefed the delegation on the Navy’s activities, coordination in the dissemination of information about sea and islands, and the implementation of the Political Bureau’s resolution and the Central Military Commission’s instruction on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s moral example.

The Vietnamese Navy has realized the set plans in combination with implementing the 11^th National Party Congress resolutions and the fourth CPV conference’s resolution on urgent issues of current Party building. As a result, there have been drastic changes in raising the awareness and sense of responsibility among cadres and Party members of the need to fulfil the assigned tasks.

The Navy has signed documents with 39 provinces and cities and 13 central agencies on intensifying the dissemination of information about sea and islands, and presented Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago sovereignty stones to 26 provinces and cities.

The Party Committee and the Navy High Command of the Vietnamese Navy has set five key tasks for building a stronger naval force in 2012, with a focus on continuing the “Studying and following President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example” campaign, and effective implementation of the CPV resolution on Party-building work.

At the meeting, Mr Huynh reviewed the country’s socio-economic situation in recent times while praising the navy’s achievements and extending his best wishes to all naval officers.

On the occasion, Mr Huynh also joined a ceremony to present an audio and light system to the Navy’s art troupe.

Forum eyes maritime management issues

More than 40 South Korean and Vietnamese experts took part in a forum discussing strategies and policies on management of sea, islands and coastal zones held in HCM City yesterday.

They identified mutual concerns relating to the sea environment, coastal management, marine tourism, marine zoning, and development of sea economy and exchanged experiences that both countries have had in these areas.

The experts also went into the details of managing the sea environment at South Korea's Masan and Viet Nam's Ha Long bays, exploitation of marine energy, and development of sustainable marine tourism in Viet Nam.

Nguyen Van Cu, director of the Viet Nam Sea and Islands Administration, said the forum aimed to help experts and related agencies in both countries respond quickly on issues of mutual concern.

The forum was a preparatory activity for the Viet Nam Sea Economic Forum 2012 that would be held in the near future, he said.

Yesterday's forum was organised by the Viet Nam Sea and Islands Administration, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Korean Marine Institute.

Ethnic groups’ rights guaranteed in Vietnam: Gov’t official

Vietnam has made great strides in ensuring the rights of ethnic minority groups and improving their spiritual and material lives, says a government official.

Ha Hung, Vice Chairman of the Government Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA), made the statement while delivering a national report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) at the 80^th session of the CERD Committee in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 21.

Hung stressed that Vietnam is a united nation where 54 ethnic groups live under the same roof. These groups were long established and have, over history, developed national construction and defence for thousands of years to constitute the modern, united state.

He highlighted the consistent policy of the Vietnamese State, saying that in Vietnam, all ethnic groups are equal, united, and respect and assist each other for mutual development.

Equality is a basic principle guaranteeing the rights of ethnic groups in Vietnam, said Hung, adding that ethnic groups, no matter if they are the majority or minority, or how well they are developed, are equal in all aspects of life and are guaranteed by the Constitution and State laws.

According to Hung, as most ethnic minority groups live in mountainous and far-flung areas, the Vietnamese government provides assistance and creates every possible favourable condition for them to develop and keep up with other regions of the country.

This is a basic and broadly applied principle of Vietnam’s ethnicity policy, said the official.

He confirmed that Vietnam has joined almost all international human rights treaties, including the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The country is finalising procedures to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and is considering admission to the Torture Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Hung said the ethnicity policy of Vietnam is not only guaranteed in the Constitution and laws, but is also applied in socio-economic development strategies and programs, with many key development projects allocated for ethnic minority groups.

The Vietnamese government will continue to finalise its legal system, provide assistance and increase investments in ethnic minority-inhabited regions to help ethnic minority people develop on a par with other groups across the country, stressed Hung.

Eleven CERD member countries are scheduled to deliver their national reports at the session lasting from February 13 to March 9.

Laos, Vietnam plant more border landmarks

Vietnam and Laos has finished building 58 out of 125 landmarks along the Son La - Hua Phan - Luang Prabang border line.

Both sides have located the sites for 100 landmarks, most of them in mountainous terrain far from villages, and the planting of border landmarks is running into difficulty.

US business delegation eyes investment opportunities

Viet Nam is willing to create favourable conditions for US businesses to invest in the country, affirmed Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Phuc made the affirmation yesterday while receiving a delegation of representatives from nearly 30 US businesses operating in fields such as information technology, education and healthcare, which was led by US Ambassador to Singapore David Adelman.

Phuc stressed that the US business community had contributed to the socio-economic development of Viet Nam and to Viet Nam-US relations generally.

He hoped that the visit would increase US understanding of Viet Nam's economic policies and would open up opportunities for economic, trade and investment co-operation.

The deputy PM stressed that when investing in Viet Nam, foreign businesses were considered a crucial part of the country's economy and their success was also Viet Nam's success.

Ambassador Adelman said US businesses wanted to seek business opportunities in Viet Nam because the country was an actively developing economy with market potential.

He hoped that the quality of human resources and work force in Viet Nam would be improved to meet the demands of development.